Restaurant

We hadn’t been to Cielo for a few years.  I can’t remember exactly when, but I’m guessing 3 or 4 years ago and that wasn’t our first visit by any means, so this is a well established eatery.  For a restaurant to survive that long in the bubble that is Brindley Place and Broad Street, says a lot I think.  So many restaurants come and go and only succeed in drawing in custom for a short time, by coming up with some sort of novelty factor or going for heavy discounting.

Cielo is at the upper end of the middle range of restaurants, just a step below a fine dining establishment.  As my husband works nearby, we often walk past in the evening and it usually seems to be pleasantly busy.  It’s the sort of place you might pick for a family celebration or a date night out with your other half.

I started with the Gamberoni All’Aglio, a dish of pan-fried tiger prawns, which were sautéed in white wine, with fresh chopped parsley, chilli and garlic butter.  The prawns were nicely cooked, but needed a generous coating of the white wine cooking liquor to pick up on the flavours.  If you love duck, like my husband, then the Duo D’Anatra is a real treat.  There’s a confit of Gressingham duck which uses the flavoursome leg meat to good effect.  The other way the duck is presented in the form of a ‘bonbon’.   Served with a Swiss chard salad and a Grand Marnier reduction, this is a memorable dish and one that I think we’ll be ordering again.

For my main course, I was in a hungry mood so I opted for the gutsy Bistecca Al Gorgonzola. Now I’m not usually a fan of blue cheeses, but the gorgonzola really went well with the sirloin steak, helping to bring out the flavours, and the chips were simply divine. It was all brought together with a complementary red wine reduction.

My husband opted for the Merluzzo Al Pomodoro.  This is Scotch cod with chorizo sausage, borlotti beans, garlic, chilli, basil and passata sauce.  As you’d expect the sauce is strongly flavoured with these tastes of the Mediterranean.  The cod was a fraction overcooked maybe, but the very slight dryness of the fish was compensated for by the depth and complexity of the sauce.

Doesn’t this Tiramisu look simply divine?  It’s very much a classic take on this most Italian of desserts with its characteristic amaretto flavouring.  As my husband’s favourite dessert is tiramisu, it was no surprise to me when he picked this one out off the menu to finish our meal.  It’s a nicely generous helping too and beautifully presented.  As you’d expect it slid down very nicely.

Meanwhile I opted for the Crema Bruciata.  This is an orange flavoured crème brûlée, served with glazed orange segments and cape gooseberries.  This was delivered with a light touch and was a very elegant dessert.  I’d have liked a little more orange flavour in the crème brûlée as I felt it could take a bit more.  It was a gorgeous dessert though and one I’d happily order again.

 

 

Recently I wrote about our stay at Gadds Town House in Durham.  One evening we went for a two course dinner in the hotel restaurant.

I started my meal with the Salmon Threesome which consisted of scottish smoked salmon, cured gravalax and kiln roast salmon served with spiced, buttered brown bread soldiers.  If like me you love salmon, this is a lovely dish.  You get three different, but complementary treatments of top quality salmon.  Buttered brown bread soldiers are the perfect accompaniment too.

My husband was tempted by the Scotch ‘Fish’ Cake.  This was a soft boiled, free range hens egg which was bound in seafood which had been rolled in a spiked crumb mix.  It was served with a caper and gurk mayo.  The egg was soft boiled inside its seafood Scotch egg casing. Melting perfectly into the seafood, the yolk added to and combined with the flavours of the seafood.  So we had a very successful first course.

As my husband isn’t a big beef fan, I often end up choosing a beef option when I eat out. This time I couldn’t resist the draw of some Northumbrian cattle which were well aged having been hung for at least 21 days.  There are a choice of four cuts of steak, so you can pick your favourite.  All the steaks come with hand-cut, triple cooked chips which were very tasty (the husband kept trying to steal them) and sweet red onion rings.  I thought the use of red onion in the onion rings was a good choice and it added a different flavour to using normal, brown onions.

My husband opted for the Roast Duck. It was served sliced and pink with a butternut puree, sticky red cabbage, goose fat potatoes and hedgerow sauce.    The duck was nicely cooked and the red cabbage made an ideal pairing.

We enjoyed eating at Gadds Town House Restaurant so much that we did try to eat there a second night.  Sadly though we’d left it a bit late to ask for a table and we couldn’t be fitted in when we wanted.  So it’s worth booking your table in advance.